Auto bailouts

If you look at photos of anti-Wall Street, Occupy-type protests, it seems clear that the people doing the demonstrating have not had lots of dealings with banks–like most Americans, actually. So they are acting on hearsay, or on a theory: they have been told that “big banks” are somehow responsible for the sorry state of our economy, in particular the fact that most young people can’t find good jobs. Elizabeth »

As we noted here, Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Warren and most of the left wing of the Democratic Party turned against the continuing resolution/omnibus spending bill that squeaked through the House, ostensibly on the ground that it contained a “giveaway” to Wall Street. This was one of Pelosi’s several demagogic tweets: .@SpeakerBoehner is stacking the deck for Big Banks & his lobbyist friends. RT if you oppose the #BoehnerBankBailout! pic.twitter.com/gEJpbnT9t8 — »

We’ve periodically featured pictorials of Detroit–the city run (into the ground) by Democrats for the last 50-plus years–in our Week in Pictures item, but I’m happy to note the forthcoming premier of a documentary by Ben Howe, “Bankrupt: How Cronyism and Corruption Brought Down Detroit.” In the short trailer below, I especially like the item about how people are actually having deceased family members disinterred to be reburied outside the »

Old habits die hard. When people talk about the U.S. auto industry, they often think it still means G.M., Ford and Chrysler. In fact, more than a dozen automobile manufacturers make cars in the United States. The “big three” are different not because they make automobiles here, but because their work forces are unionized. Thus, when people talk about buying American cars, what they really mean, much of the time, »

There’s a line about the auto industry in George Will’s column about Detroit today that is worth dwelling on for a moment: “Auto industry executives, who often were invertebrate mediocrities, continually bought labor peace by mortgaging their companies’ futures in surrenders to union demands.” (Emphasis added.) My opinion is that the mediocrity of auto company leadership extends beyond just labor relations to the larger questions of car design and quality. »

As discussed in the post below, the auto industry bailout is a classic case of crony capitalism, and one which has not accomplished its stated goal of putting General Motors on a sound footing. Nonetheless, the Obama campaign has made the bailout the centerpiece of its efforts to hold the electoral votes of the crucial states of Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The web ad below, by American Future Fund, counters »

Peter Schweizer, in the Washington Times, helps expose the auto industry bailout for what it was — “a classic tale of cronyism, in which the well-connected sped away with big bucks.” In this instance, the “well-connected” can be found mainly in the world of Big Finance: In his recent book “Bailout,” the former special inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, Neil Barofsky, points out that when it came »

The bailouts of GM and Chrysler, along with the killing of Osama bin Laden, comprise the Obama administration’s very short list of alleged accomplishments. It is therefore important to understand why the auto bailouts were anything but successful. This video by the Center for Freedom and Prosperity explains, in a simple but effective manner, why the bailouts were a failure that should not be repeated: »

Back in October I noted here the passing of William Niskanen, the distinguished economist and long time chairman of the Cato Institute. (It was his passing that touched off the current fight between the Kochs and Cato’s president, Ed Crane.) Now, Cato is out with the following 12 minute video tribute to Bill. (Hat tip to Cato’s Caleb Brown.) I turn up very briefly at about the 9 minute mark, »

The situation with GM’s (and the taxpayers’) Volt is a good news/bad news story. The good news is that Volt awareness has gone up over the last two months. The bad news is that Volt awareness has gone up in the wake of publicity over the government’s investigation of the car’s potential safety hazard. The Detroit News reports that the Volt had its worst sales month since August, as negative »

Earlier this month we noted Ford’s Drive One series ad featuring Chris (video below). Chris explained why he chose to buy the Ford F-150 pickup truck. In a mock press conference setting, Chris was asked why buying American was important to him. Chris responded: “I wasn’t going to buy another car that was bailed out by our government. I was going to buy from a manufacturer that’s standing on their »

On yesterday’s show Rush highlighted an ad from Ford’s Drive One series (video below) in which buyers are thrust before cameras to explain why they picked Ford. The ad features Chris, a buyer of the Ford F-150 pickup truck. In a mock press conference setting, Chris is asked why buying American was important to him. Chris responds: “I wasn’t going to buy another car that was bailed out by our »

In the post “Chrysler’s resurrection” I wrote about James Stewart’s New York Times puff piece portraying the new Chrysler as a great success story. The Obama administration’s treatment of the auto companies and ongoing deceptions regarding the financial success of the treatment deserves more attention than it has received. In the Age of Obama, the enormities accumulate so quickly it’s hard to keep up. Steven Rattner was the Obama administration’s »